Isaiah 19:1-4

English Standard Version

An Oracle Concerning Egypt

1 An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

2 And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom;

3 and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound[a] their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers;

4 and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord God of hosts.

Tupos means a type. This warning is about any nation that acts like the ancient Egyptians. Our Lord is the Lord over all the earth and no one should ignore the warnings in a word of prophecy just because their nation is not named Egypt.

So often we cry out, “He is not talking about us.” We talk about the prophetic word as if it is not about us, someone else will suffer, not us.

At the time of this writing in Isaiah the known world was much smaller. There were few examples to be used. The world is much larger now and those attitudes exist all over the world that existed in ancient Egypt. We should not ignore the attitudes that exist in our own country just because our nation’s name does not exist in prophecy. Our type, our tupos, may well suffer the fate as that named nation in prophecy.

Look around and see what false gods are being worshiped in our countries.

Turn to the Lord and seek His will in what part we have to play in prophecy. Follow the Lord.

Don’t look back as our Sodom and Gomorrahs suffer destruction.

Philippians 4:13 English Standard Version (ESV) I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

This is absolutely true.

John 5:30 English Standard Version (ESV) I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

This is true also.

In the first case it is Paul that is speaking to those things that he is doing. In the second case Jesus is speaking of the things He is doing.

What Paul did not say that should be a given is that Paul was sent. We have a tendency to forget after some time that comments about what servants of God are doing are direct answers to being sent to do the will of the Father. In this regard we are no different than Jesus. We should not do anything on our own.

The reason I say this is because humans can get so inspired that we can get caught up in the act of doing. It feels good to be doing good. We can get so caught up in the doing that we forget that this is first and foremost a relationship.

Jesus said it by saying He sought the Father’s will. How He knew the Father’s will was in communion with the Father. He checked in nightly with the Father, alone. Then He would come back to minister to mankind.

Galatians 2:2 English Standard Version (ESV) I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.

Even Paul, our most prolific epistle writer, admits that he got so busy in doing that he had to check in to be sure he was still on track. He was sent a revelation which caused him to check in with others that were servants of Christ. What that revelation was exactly we may never know but knowing God as I do, it was with purpose.

Here is another way to say it in common terms, “when in doubt shout!”

Another way of saying all this is, “do not get so confident in what you are doing that you do not check back in with your instructor.”